Sky hikes broadband prices

Sky are putting up broadband prices from December 1st, with line rental is rising by £1 a month to £17.40, and voicemail is also going up by 25p to £1.25 a month. You might not even use your landline, but alas, everyone has to pay for it in most broadband deals, and Sky are no different. It's a racket, we know, we know...

Connection charges are to also to go up by 1p to 16.9p, and in addition to that, the number of packages being offered by Sky are being halved. Customers on axed plans will be moved to another, which Sky deem to be closest to what they've already got.

A Sky spokesperson said: "Our line rental and voicemail prices are still lower than BT’s, and our new Sky Talk packs mean our customers will gain even more inclusive calls across the week - including calls to UK mobiles - for as little as £4 a month."

"These changes mean we can offer our broadband and talk customers even more value for money at the same time as investing in market-leading innovation and even better customer service for them."

That's Sky talking though, and you'd do well to have a look to see if there's a better deal for you elsewhere. Mercifully, you can leave Sky without penalty. Thanks to new rules, customers who are locked into a contract get 30 days from receiving notification of the price rise, where you can switch without penalty.

If you're not fussed, good for you - if this is bad news for you, get shopping.

This coming just after Hot UK Deals was promoting a Sky offer where people could have sky packages effectively free for a year, anyone else thinking this is what they came up with to cover the cost of that promotion?